Recent Articles

What happened to our historic season of offense? Defenses have been winning the day since the start of December, especially in New Orleans where the offense is struggling and the defense is surging. The Saints move up to No. 3 in DVOA and take over as the Super Bowl favorites in our playoff odds report.

The Saints all but end another Carolina season, but we liked these teams better when they scored points. Also: Chicago's dragon-slaying win, Vance Joseph's huge blunder, Nick Foles does it again in LA, and the most unusual Patriots-Steelers game yet.

Nick Mullens climbs to the top of the quarterback heap this week -- or, more accurately, the quarterback heap falls behind Nick Mullens. We try to find another week so devoid of passing stars, and also look over the best runners and receivers of Week 15.

One AFC wild-card contender loses two defenders for the year in a shutout victory, while another loses its starting halfback. The rest of the playoff field suffers a variety scrapes and sprains, but fortunately nothing that should linger into January.

What happened to our historic season of offense? Defenses have been winning the day since the start of December, especially in New Orleans where the offense is struggling and the defense is surging. The Saints move up to No. 3 in DVOA and take over as the Super Bowl favorites in our playoff odds report.

Chicago's big win over the Rams moves the Bears into position as a historically dominant defense while also moving the Chargers up in DVOA to set up DVOA Bowl XIX this Thursday night. Plus, in-depth on the Rams' record-setting offensive line season, and why DVOA isn't as high as conventional wisdom on the Dallas Cowboys.

The Chargers and Broncos rise to give us three AFC West teams in our top five. Plus, a further look at Baltimore's three-game winning streak and playoff odds in the NFC East with a huge game between Philadelphia and Dallas this coming Sunday.

In a year when offenses are running wild like never before, one defense stands out from the pack as the best in the league -- and it's not just because they traded for Khalil Mack. Derrik Klassen shows how the stars in Chicago's secondary are just as important as their pass-rushers.

The Broncos' three-game winning streak has been keyed by an undrafted rookie running back and an offensive line full of backups and journeymen. Derrik Klassen shows how Bill Musgrave has found a home for his misfit toys.

With Joe Flacco on the shelf, the Ravens have been forced to play their rookie quarterback earlier than they might have wanted to -- but that hasn't stopped them to tailoring their offense to make the most of his unique talents. Derrik Klassen shows how Marty Mornhinweg has put Jackson's mobility on display.

With the Lions, 49ers, and Falcons out of the playoffs, Ben Muth says hello to a new team in the Los Angeles Rams. Unfortunately, the Rams' offensive line had a bad night against the Bears in Chicago, but there's reason to think things would turn around in a postseason rematch.

Detroit's loss to Chicago on Thanksgiving effectively ended their season, but Ben Muth shows that there's a lot to like about their young linemen, and reason to believe they can be even better in the future.

Nick Mullens climbs to the top of the quarterback heap this week -- or, more accurately, the quarterback heap falls behind Nick Mullens. We try to find another week so devoid of passing stars, and also look over the best runners and receivers of Week 15.

A lot of crazy things happened this week. A quarterback had a great day rushing (again) and a bad day passing (again). One running back had a fantastic day rushing; another had a terrible day receiving. And a wide receiver had the worst game we've ever measured. All this, plus the best passers, runners, and receivers of Week 14.

Dak Prescott's performance against New Orleans this week was the latest example of something that has become routine in the NFL this season: quarterbacks finishing with more sacks than incompletions. Why are signal-callers suddenly going down so frequently? Plus, the best passers, runners, and receivers of Week 13.

A week that was supposed to make things clearer instead muddies the playoff field substantially. Half of the league's division leaders lose, including both presumptive No. 1 seeds. Three of the AFC's four remaining six-seed contenders win. Five divisions are still technically up for grabs, somehow still including the AFC East. And just what is wrong with the Rams?

Up is down in Week 14, as three of the AFC's top four seeds take losses and the fourth needs overtime for a narrow home win. At the opposite end of the standings, two of the three contenders for the No. 1 draft pick take home victories over playoff contenders. Your Audibles team comments on the weird and the wacky.

The Week 13 action is particularly unlucky for the Colts, the Panthers, the Bears, and Mike McCarthy. The first playoff berth is mathematically clinched in the NFC, while one AFC bye-week contender is upset at home by another on Sunday night. Your Audibles crew discusses.

The Hue Jackson and Mike McCarthy firings have kickstarted the coaching carousel with a month left in the season! Bryan and Andrew look at jobs open now (in Cleveland and Green Bay) and potentially soon (all over Florida) in search of the best spot for a new hire.

Andrew's weird obsession with the finest commercials America has to offer reaches breaking point, as the Scramble team takes a look at the action ~between~ the action on NFL Sundays. Don't touch that dial!

Guest columnist Ben Baldwin returns for another look at play-action passing in the NFL. Does a team's effectiveness on standard passes have an effect on play-action success? Do teams that run the ball a lot use play-action more often? Do teams that run well use play-action more? And finally, is play-action more effective when it's used sparingly?

Guest columnist Ajit Kirpekar applies machine learning techniques to pressure rates from a dozen NFL seasons and comes up with some interesting conclusions -- most notably, that quarterbacks might be even more responsible than we thought for the pressure they do or do not face.

Alex Vigderman of Sports Info Solutions introduces Total Points, a tool for player evaluation. Like DVOA, it starts with play-by-play data, but then it adds charting information to more accurately measure the contributions of each player on the field. And it will tell you that Matt Ryan has been the NFL's best quarterback for several years now.

Jerry Jeudy and Alabama were very good this year, just like we all expected. Same goes for their Playoff competitors in Clemson, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame, and other top teams like Ohio State and Washington. Brian Fremeau looks back at a year filled with boring predictability and tries to find out why good teams don't play each other anymore.

Not long ago, Benny Snell and the Kentucky Wildcats were riding high at 7-1, but then back-to-back losses to Georgia and Tennessee brought them back to earth. Brian Fremeau looks at which other teams have declined throughout this season, and which have made the biggest improvements.

Sometimes, the final score doesn't tell the whole story. Brian Fremeau goes through the Playoff contenders and looks at which teams have jumped out to big leads early (Alabama) and which have spent more time flirting with disaster (Washington State).

The best thing about bowl season is that there's a game every day. The worst thing is that often, you have no idea who these guys are. Ian Boyd introduces you to some of the best players you'll see in the next week -- including Fresno State receiver KeeSean Johnson.

It's Rivalry Week in college football -- and the biggest rivalry game in the land will see Dwayne Haskins and Ohio State battle Michigan, with a berth in the Big 10 title game and (likely) a shot in the Playoff on the line.

Better late than never, we've got quotes on Mike McCarthy's firing, changes in special teams, what it's like to play spoiler, shoddy officiating, cannabis, choking in Texas, and the contents in (and on) Sean McVay's head.

The Saints all but end another Carolina season, but we liked these teams better when they scored points. Also: Chicago's dragon-slaying win, Vance Joseph's huge blunder, Nick Foles does it again in LA, and the most unusual Patriots-Steelers game yet.

Patrick Mahomes delivers a gut-check win for the Chiefs at home in a week filled with great endings. Also: Amari Cooper crow gifts, the Steelers drop another one in Oakland, Sam Darnold's first comeback win, and the Dolphins pull off a historic game-winning lateral play against the Patriots of all teams.

The 2018 Pro Bowl Rosters were released this evening. They contained seven Chargers, six rookies, five golden domers, and a partridge in a pear tree. Use this thread to debate the relative merits of those chosen and those who were not.

What happened to our historic season of offense? Defenses have been winning the day since the start of December, especially in New Orleans where the offense is struggling and the defense is surging. The Saints move up to No. 3 in DVOA and take over as the Super Bowl favorites in our playoff odds report.

The Saints all but end another Carolina season, but we liked these teams better when they scored points. Also: Chicago's dragon-slaying win, Vance Joseph's huge blunder, Nick Foles does it again in LA, and the most unusual Patriots-Steelers game yet.

Recent Articles

A week that was supposed to make things clearer instead muddies the playoff field substantially. Half of the league's division leaders lose, including both presumptive No. 1 seeds. Three of the AFC's four remaining six-seed contenders win. Five divisions are still technically up for grabs, somehow still including the AFC East. And just what is wrong with the Rams?

The biggest game of the week is on Thursday night. With a win, Kansas City can all but wrap up home-field advantage in the AFC -- but with a loss, they open the door a crack for the L.A. Chargers to slip past them and win the AFC West. We've got a pair of Saturday games (Texans-Jets and Browns-Broncos); critical Sunday games such as Cowboys-Colts, Dolphins-Vikings, and Patriots-Steelers; and finally the Saints and Panthers on Monday night. Use this thread to discuss them all.

This week on the Off The Charts football podcast, we do a review of the Chargers' big comeback against the Chiefs and then preview three big games of the upcoming weekend: Miami at Minnesota, New England at Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia at the Los Angeles Rams. (Click for audio link.)

The best thing about bowl season is that there's a game every day. The worst thing is that often, you have no idea who these guys are. Ian Boyd introduces you to some of the best players you'll see in the next week -- including Fresno State receiver KeeSean Johnson.

With the Lions, 49ers, and Falcons out of the playoffs, Ben Muth says hello to a new team in the Los Angeles Rams. Unfortunately, the Rams' offensive line had a bad night against the Bears in Chicago, but there's reason to think things would turn around in a postseason rematch.